Natsu's Migraine
by TheFailedWriter
Summary: Natsu's dragon hearing goes into overdrive when he doesn't have an outlet for his powers. Enter Gajeel to save the day.


_Thud. Thud. Thud._

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

"_Grey-samaaaaa~"_

"_And then I was like…"_

"_What?!"_

"_I'll beat you into next year!"_

"_Get me a beer!"_

"_I want sake!"_

_Bang!_

_Slap!_

_Grunt._

Dragon hearing could be a great asset in battle or when stalking prey, but sometimes being in such a noisy guild meant it could have its issues.

It was just an ordinary day in Fairy Tail – some members were fighting, others were getting drunk or chatting. All in all it was completely normal.

When Natsu was younger he'd had problems being in crowded or noisy places because there were too many sounds and smells to get his head around and he'd get dizzy and scared and his head would hurt, but he'd gotten used to it little by little and now he was completely fine with the chaos of the guild, most of the time.

Today, he had woken up with a headache. It wasn't too bad, kind of like a pressure build-up from high altitudes, but its severity had been increasing exponentially throughout the morning.

By the time he'd entered the guild it was pounding behind his eyes and he barely had the energy to stand.

He'd walked into the guild and sat at a table in a dark corner near the back away from everyone.

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

"_Grey-samaaaaa~"_

"_And then I was like…"_

"_What?!"_

"_I'll beat you into next year!"_

"_Get me a beer!"_

"_I want sake!"_

_Bang!_

_Slap!_

_Grunt._

The sounds just kept getting louder and by now the dragon slayer was curled into as small of a ball as he could manage. His body was shaking and he felt like every sound was a stab slap pound whack punch rip jab to his brain and he was clutching futily at his ears, trying to block out the noise. There were tears streaming down his face and he couldn't even manage to make any sound, let alone tell everyone to shut the hell up. He wished he'd stayed at home.

"Hey, Natsu!" Lucy beamed as she came over, but as she got closer she noticed the position he was in.

"What's wrong?! Are you hurt?! Are you sick?! Answer me, Natsu!" She cried in concerned outrage at the state of him.

To Natsu, every syllable had felt like another gash in his head and he curled further into himself, unable to even whimper in pain.

"Something's wrong with Natsu!" Lucy shouted full-volume for help.

The whole guild became blissfully silent for a second and Natsu relaxed a tiny bit, tense muscles uncoiling a little, before they went into a total uproar and Natsu wished he could just pass out already to escape the agony.

"Natsu?!"

"What's wrong with him?!"

"Are you okay?!"

"What happened?!"

"Who did this to him?!"

"What kind of monster could do this to that Natsu?!"

"Calm down!" Gajeel shouted as loudly as he could.

Everyone went quiet.

"Nobody make a sound." He commanded, met with confused stares.

"Who made you the boss?" Evergreen called from somewhere in the crowd.

"I think I know what's wrong with him, so shut the hell up." Gajeel said in a low voice, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Evergreen was seemingly pacified for now so he signalled for everyone to back away, which they did, watching in anticipation.

He crouched down in front of Natsu, who winced at the creak of the floorboards.

Gajeel nodded as if he'd confirmed his theory.

"Sorry about this." He muttered before hitting Natsu over the head with an Iron Dragon's Club.

"HEY!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise as Natsu collapsed onto the table, unconscious.

"What was that for?!" Happy screamed, flying over to his best friend and patting his head comfortingly.

"He was getting an overload." The iron dragon slayer explained.

"A what? He's not a robot, you know!" Lucy shouted.

"I've never experienced it myself or even heard of it happening before; honestly, it was just a guess at first but then he winced when the floor creaked and-"

"What was it?" Grey interrupted.

"You know about dragon slayer hearing? Well I think his spiked or something."

"You mean, like a migraine?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, I guess. He probably built up some excess magical power which got released through his hearing, so it was extra-sensitized you could say. The sound got too much and he got a migraine. Probably a pretty bad one considering the noise levels in this guild." Gajeel sounded a little annoyed.

Everyone immediately looked guilty.

"If we'd known…" Bisca began.

"I was on the balcony and even I could tell something was off the minute he stepped through the door. If you'd all pull your heads out of your arses for two seconds you'd have noticed too." He growled.

"Sorry, Gajeel." Wendy apologised, head bowed. "Nobody realised."

"Man, it's alright. I just…"

"We get it. It's Natsu, after all. That idiot couldn't take care of himself if we took our eyes off him for two seconds. The only thing he's good at is fighting." Grey smiled a little, and everyone else calmed down as well.

"How long do you think he'll be like this?" Lucy asked.

"I dunno. As long as it does, I guess. Maybe if he burns off that excess power it'll stop? But I doubt he'll want to, 'cause it'll hurt."

"Can't Wendy just…"

The sky dragon slayer shook her head. "Sorry, Lucy. Since it's just extra magic I can't do anything. It isn't something that can be healed, it just needs to go away naturally."

"I think we should put him in the infirmary." Erza advised.

"Yeah." Gajeel picked him up uncharacteristically gently and carried the pink haired teen from the room.

"Freed, go with them." Erza commanded, and the rune mage immediately understood, heading in the same direction.

He reached the door and paused when he saw the pair.

Natsu was lying in the bed, sleeping quietly for once, but there were still tear tracks on his face. Gajeel tenderly wiped them away, one of Natsu's hands in his.

"You're gonna be fine, okay?" Freed didn't need dragon slayer hearing to pick up the affection in the words. The black haired man loved Natsu like a little brother, not that he'd ever admit it.

Freed smiled. He tried to act like he hadn't seen or heard anything as he walked in.

"Gajeel."

Frantically, Gajeel scrambled to let go of Natsu's hand but then Natsu closed his hand around it and he couldn't let go.

"Heheh." Freed chuckled. The scene was almost cute.

"Don't tell anybody about this, okay?" Gajeel was almost blushing.

"Hey, I'm just here to put up some runes." He specifically did not agree.

The older slayer grumbled irately.

"I wish I had a camera lacrima right now… or Reedus." He commented.

Gajeel growled again.

"Man, are all dragon slayers this grumpy? Or perhaps, are you just being possessive?" He teased, casting runes.

"What are you casting?" Gajeel asked in a threatening rumble.

Definitely protective.

"Runes stop Natsu hearing anything while he's in this room, so he'll be more at ease." He explained.

"Thanks." The dragon slayer answered.

"The whole guild freezes up when Natsu's not around. You're not the only one who's worried." Freed replied with a smirk.

"I'm not particularly worried or anything." Gajeel responded, refusing to meet the slanted, teal eyes.

"If you say so." He called over his shoulder as he left.

An hour or so later Natsu started to wake up. His grip on the hand in his tightened and he opened his eyes.

He saw Gajeel sitting beside him and blinked.

"Gaj-" He began, pausing when no sound came out.

Gajeel noticed his confusion and grabbed the notepad Freed had brought them.

'There are runes around the room that stop you from hearing anything. I can hear you, though.' He wrote before handing it to the fire dragon slayer.

Natsu remembered the morning and smiled bashfully.

"Sorry for the trouble. I haven't gone on a mission for a while so… It happens sometimes, though not always with hearing." He replied, struggling a little to speak without hearing himself.

'Still, it really is something for you to build up so much excess magic that it has to force its way out of you. How much of that stuff do you even have?' Gajeel wrote, laughing though no sound came out.

"Let's fight." Natsu replied, excitedly. He hadn't fought anyone, least of all Gajeel, in ages, so he was feeling really fired up. Also, he had magic to burn and he wanted it gone.

'Alright!' Gajeel grinned back.

They both still shouted their attack names, despite the fact Natsu couldn't hear them.

As soon as the noises of battle started half of the guild ran to the infirmary. Makarov was not especially happy to see the room had been completely obliterated already, but he decided to let it go for today.

Natsu's attacks seemed super-powered because of the build-up and Gajeel was obviously losing, though he still grinned and stood his ground.

When the older dragon slayer finally decided to call it quits, he tag-teamed Grey.

"Alright, Flame-breath! My turn to beat your arse!" Grey smirked.

Natsu also leered in reply. "I'm getting fired up!"

A short while later, Natsu had beaten up over half of the guild including Elfman, Max, the whole of Team Shadow Gear at once, Lisanna, Cana, Bisca and Alzack together, Juvia and even Lucy.

And he was still standing like it had been nothing.

"Natsu's scary!" Happy said after the Raijinshu were defeated.

He'd finally tired himself out and the runes disappeared when Freed got knocked out.

"Ahh, that was fun~" He announced, stretching. "Hey, I can hear again! And it doesn't hurt!" He grinned.

The pile of half dead members in the hall groaned when he still sounded energetic.

"What's wrong with you lot? Be more energetic! Where's that Fairy Tail enthusiasm gone?"

Makarov came up to check on Natsu and balked when he saw the number of defeated mages.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" He screeched.

"Natsu's scary." Happy repeated.

"WHAAAT?!"

"Gramps! Look, I'm all better!" Natsu grinned.

"Natsu… I've underestimated you." Makarov muttered.

"I'm gonna go get a mug of fire from Mira." He yawned, calmly heading downstairs and away from the destruction.

"Feeling better?" Mira asked cheerfully as he walked to the bar.

"Much. Burned off the extra magic and now I'm raring to go! Could I get my usual please?"

"Of course." She brought out a tankard of fire and Natsu chugged it happily.

"Thanks! I wonder if anyone else will spar with me." He thought out loud.

"Who have you already sparred with?" Mira asked.

"Hmm, let's see… Gajeel, Grey, Elfman, Max, Team Shadow Gear, Lisanna, Cana, Bisca, Alzack, Juvia, Lucy, Reedus, Warren, Laki, Romeo, Macao, Wakaba, Pantherlily… oh, and Wendy." He counted on his fingers as he spoke. "Also the Raijinshu."

Mira sweated and grinned shakily. "How about Erza?" She suggested.

"I think I'll just go find some Vulcans in the woods. Maybe I can beat some Gorians up a little." He wondered as he walked out the door. Nobody who hadn't been there would believe he'd been huddled in a corner in agonizing pain just two hours ago.

Then again, this was Fairy Tail.


End file.
